Finding Her Way Home
by Unwritten Bliss
Summary: No amount of begging and pleading could reopen the portal between the past and present. Kagome will have to find her own way back. And if that means accepting aid from an unwilling ally, so be it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words: **100

**Note:** This story will not begin happy. It is wrought with themes such as suicide and depression, but will get happier as the chapters go on. All chapters (okay, if we are being real, _most_ chapters) will be 100 words in length. I have never written a story like this before, so any opinions, suggestions, and (if there is any) praise is greatly appreciated. Please enjoy! - U.B.

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**Chapter One:**

**The Shell**

"No, no, no, no, _no!_"

The wail echoed within the belly of the well, ringing in her ears so that she could hear nothing else but the breaking of her heart.

"Let me through," she screamed, tears falling like silent bombs. Her throat was sore from her screeching, her fingers bleeding from her constant digging. "I'm not done!"

She was begging - pleading to any who would listen and comply.

She lowered her forehead to the ground, took a gasping breath, and cried out into the darkness.

All her thoughts fell away so that all that remained was an empty shell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha, sad. But true.

**Words**: 100

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**Chapter 2:**

**Forever**

Souta paused. The burgundy door was closed tight and on the other side, he knew his sister lay motionless on the floor beneath her window, waiting.

She was waiting, but not for the dinner he carried on a tray. She was waiting for a white-haired hanyou who would never come get her. Who could never come.

Because the well had closed.

"Kagome-nee?" He tapped hesitantly on the door. There was no answer.

Slowly, Souta turned the knob and pushed the door open. Before him, Kagome sat beneath her window. She was doll-like in her stillness.

Yearning forever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha.

**Words: **100

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**Chapter 3:**

**Hollow**

There was a hollowness within her that she'd only felt once before, when she had held an infant in her hands and allowed its darkness to seep into her soul.

Back then, Inuyasha had rescued her. As always, he'd come for her even when the odds weren't in their favor.

She lay curled in a ball against the wall. _Good, sturdy Wall_, she thought to herself. _Sturdy, dependent Wall._ She'd always liked Wall. It never let her down and it seemed to be a chief, invaluable component of her house.

If she was herself, she'd smile. Giggle.

Now, she cried.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

**Warning:** There is adult material in this story. Please be aware of mention of suicide from here on out.

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**Chapter Four:**

**Mother**

It was late.

Ms. Higurashi was supposed to wake up at six, but it was already four in the morning so why sleep at all?

The silence seeping in through the ceiling above her vibrated the air like heavy bass.

Was her daughter still wound tightly on her floor, staring at the past through unseeing blue eyes?

Ms. Higurashi sat at her kitchen table so that she could see into the living room and up the stairs. Already, her daughter had tried to kill herself five times in the last week.

So she sat, protector and warden. Mother and enemy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Five:**

**Conspire**

"Thank you," Ms. Higurashi murmured.

"Trust me, Mom, I think it'll do us all some good." Souta dropped the hammer onto the counter along with the spare nails.

Sure, it was warm outside and he was drenched in sweat and it had been a trying job to accomplish... but the well-house was finally boarded up. For good.

Kagome would have to try _really_ hard the next time she tried to kill herself by flinging herself over the lip of the well.

"Have you slept at all?" Souta asked. "You need-"

"I don't need sleep. I _need_ my daughter back."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Six:**

**Hinges**

Kagome closed her eyes when the un-greased hinges of her door squealed.

She scowled when the stairs moaned under her diminished weight.

She cringed when her foot hit the stand holding her grandmother's antique vase.

She tiptoed quickly past her mother, who lay with her head buried in her arms at the kitchen table.

She dodged Buyo as he waddled through the kitty door leading outside, heading to his food bowl.

Finally, Goshinboku. A few more feet and...

_What the hell_.

Kagome stared, dumbfounded, at the well house.

_When did they do this?_

Was everything and everyone against her?


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Seven:**

**Awake**

Six long months passed.

According to Dr. Chou, Kagome was experiencing the seven stages of grief.

The first had been denial, which lasted a week and caused her fingers to bleed and led to her breaking her leg.

Then there was only pain. Heart crushing pain - the kind that has potential to kill.

The third step was anger. The fury boiled up inside of her for two months until she finally exploded, screaming at the world for its failure.

Then there was the depression. It swallowed her whole, eating her alive for four months.

And then, finally, she woke up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

**Notes:** I've been sick for the past four days, which means I've had a lot of time to write. Here's a chapter! Enjoy! - UB

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**Chapter Eight:**

**Starved**

When Kagome stepped into the kitchen for the first time in six months, all fell silent except her mother, who was stirring something on the stove.

Souta had his mouth hanging open like a dying fish.

Grandpa's chopsticks clattered to the table, spilling rice everywhere.

Buyo stared at her as if she were a stranger.

"Something smells good," Kagome said, her voice broken from abuse.

Ms. Higurashi turned warily and looked at her daughter. She studied Kagome's thin face, blue eyes, pale skin.

She gave her daughter a watery smile. "I made your favorite."

"Good." Kagome felt shy. "I'm starved."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Eight:**

**The Stranger**

The first thing Kagome did after she ate was bathe. She sat in the bathtub for a long time, scrubbing from her skin the dirt and frustration and pain from the past few months.

At last, she was raw and new. But as she stared into the foggy mirror, Kagome saw Kikyo and decided her hair had grown too long.

Finding the pair of shears her mother used to cut Souta's hair, Kagome sliced through the last painful reminder of her unreachable, unattainable past.

When she looked back at the mirror, she saw a stranger she was ready to meet.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Ten:**

**Gone**

Ms. Higurashi stared, uncertain. Her daughter was riffling through the mounds of junk in her closet, grumbling to herself.

By habit, Ms. Higurashi half-expected to see a giant yellow satchel, half-packed, on her bed.

She admitted to herself, guiltily, that she was relieved to see a large box in its place.

"Kagome, what are you doing? And what happened to your hair?"

There was a heavy sigh from the closet and the young eighteen year-old sat back on her heels. She didn't turn to look at her mother.

"I want it all gone, mama. All of it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Eleven:**

**Art**

"I don't really need it," Kagome argued.

The flamboyant man wrapped Kagome up with a smock and grabbed her head between both hands. He critically examined the reflection in the mirror.

"Darling," he said loudly, "You do."

"I just knew I wanted a change," Kagome said.

"Next time you want a change, honey, come to me. Don't go grabbing a weed-whacker and expect the result to look_ good!_"

Kagome didn't answer. Anything she said would be used against her.

In a mere hour and a half, he managed to create art out of the chaos that was Kagome's hair.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words:** 100

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**Chapter Twelve:**

**Siblings**

"Souta, get out."

"You look like mom, only younger."

"Thanks, Souta. Now get out."

"So, is this permanent or are you going to grow it out again?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it looks nice."

"Thank you."

"What are you doing with all those clothes?"

"I'm giving them away."

"Are you going to give away all the pictures and stuff too?"

"All of it, Souta. Everything's going. Now please leave."

"But _why_?"

"Souta, get out of my room!"

There was a pause, thick with hope.

"Welcome back, sis."

"Thanks, twerp. Now get _out!_"

He hid a smile as the door closed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words: **100

**Note:** I'm sorry for the delay on updating. I recently took a 2.5 day drive from Texas (my home) to Oregon (where I go to college) and have been trying like crazy to settle into my apartment. Its been reaking havoc on everything in my life. I apologize again on the delay, but please don't punish me by not reviewing. They give me such happiness. :) Also, some people have been asking for longer chapters. They'll start getting longer. I'll begin adding 100 words per chapter, I think, which means it'll take time for them to be published. Thanks again, everyone!

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Secrets**

"Kagome, I know you've had a rough time these past few months... But," her mother paused uncertainly. Should she bring up the ghosts of the past when her daughter had been moving forward for the past few weeks?

"When will you... tell us what happened back then?"

Kagome stopped stirring at the stove and did not turn to meet her mother's inquisitive gaze. She knew very well that her family had been tiptoeing around the situation for several weeks but their curiosity was only growing.

"I'm just not ready," she whispered.

"We'll all be here when you are."

"I know."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words: **100

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Hole**

Kagome may have moved past the first few stages of grief, but that didn't mean she couldn't relapse.

Today, she woke up and felt the stirring of loneliness. She was the only one left who had experienced it all. Who knew the truth about youkai. Who knew the truth about mikos and priests and slayers.

Who knew how close the world had come to being destroyed by one evil hanyou.

She was the only one left. The knowledge kept her from moving forward, kept a giant hole in her heart that wouldn't be filled.

Maybe, it could never be filled.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Words: **100

**Chapter Fifteen:**

**Search**

Kagome leaned back against the bench and stared out at the city. She sat beneath the great tree, taking comfort in the shade that it cast.

She had been thinking, recently. Perhaps the youkai race hadn't been destroyed. What if they were just hiding? She had certainly never bothered _searching_.

She had never had a reason, before.

Back then, she had thought everything would continue as it was. It never occurred to her that it would just _end_.

Now, as she sat beneath the great tree which started it all, Kagome Higurashi closed her eyes.

And wondered what she'd find.


End file.
